Pre-employment testing of applicants: Legal guidelines

Pre-employment tests can help pinpoint ideal candidates for hiring. But they can also spark employee discrimination lawsuits if employers don't follow employment law guidelines laid down by state regulations and federal laws, including the ADA.

1. What is the potential legal liability of using pre-employment testing to aid in the hiring process?

Whenever employers use employment tests—whether they are skills tests, psychological tests or personality tests—they face the risk that applicants turned down due to test results will claim that the test discriminated against them based on disability, age, sex, race, religion, etc., or invaded their privacy.

This is not to say that you should avoid using tests to help choose the most qualified candidates. You just need to make sure they're conducted properly and fairly. Here are some tips.

Use only trained professionals to administer a test and evaluate the results.

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